Getting back into the practice of even having time to have a coherent THOUGHT about Lost is going to be difficult. I don’t know when I’ll have time to do this, but first, general impressions:
Flash-sideways!
Flocke is Smoky!
Flocke mocking Locke!
Underwater?!
Slightly different things all over the plane!
Smoky cleverer than Bram!
Parts of the show were slow and a bit draggy for what appeared to be minor reveals that could have been revealed other ways, probably:
–Everyone exiting the plane, slow reveal that Locke is still crippled, even though this leads to one of my favorite scenes of the whole series, with Jack offering to fix Locke *delight*, unless they were trying to show who WASN’T on the plane, but I don’t know about that, since we didn’t see Claire, but did see her in a taxi).
–Digging Juliet out just to have her die, but apparently go into flashes beforehand so she knows “it worked”?
Generally super happy, HUGE amounts of stuff to tear apart. I have no idea how I’m going to pick apart everything that I want to on here. I still have to talk about it in depth with Mom and R too!
Plan to update all week long, though
One thing I wonder about is that the pilot said when they crashed they were a thousand miles off course, because the instruments went all wonky and they turned back. So a thousand miles from where they crashed the instruments went wonky? I guess this time the instruments never even went crazy because the Island was under water and dead, so no signal to pull them in? So normal flight, and much shorter flight. I think I’ve always been a bit bothered by the space/time distance between instrument funk and crash. Hm. Anyway.
OK, it seems clear that everything since the bomb has proceeded differently than Timeline 1. This Timeline 2 is different at least for our losties, but as indicated by the submerged island, apparently also for DI folks, Islanders, and who knows, maybe the whole world. The things we saw on the Oceanic flight (which, was it ever directly referred to as flight 815? If jack was in a different row, maybe it didn’t have to be 815 either? Why do that, idk. probably you don’t do that, but just sayin.)
So since Everything Changes…
General:
Pilot is still Seth Norris, not Frank Lapidus. Cindy is still a flight attendant.
Jack:
Timeline 1, Cindy gives Jack 2 bottles of alcohol. Of course, he needed one to fix his wound on the Island, but if there’s no island, guess he doesn’t need that second one, eh? So he’s still a bit of a drinker, and is still coming from Sydney to bury his dead father, so most of his story appears to be similar.
The conversation between he and Rose is different. She consoles him instead, and he appears to be more than a little worried.
The cut on his neck. Maybe a callback to when Daniel says “Did I have a scar on my neck when we met? No, because I hadn’t been shot yet,” and then he proceeds to let everyone know they can die.
Supposedly Jack is in a different row, but I don’t know yet. I haven’t been able to look up anything yet…
And I just want to point out the Alice through the Looking Glass feel of him staring himself down in the mirror, maybe wondering what bizarre life is through there…
Also, Jack seems cooler. Imagine if an airline lost Timeline 1 Jack’s dad??
Rose/Bernard: We do not know if she still has cancer, if she EVER had cancer, if that’s why they were in Australia. She wasn’t wearing Bernard’s ring around her neck that I saw. I don’t know what mag she was reading yet, but the back says “The truth is out there” so that’s awesome.
Desmond: What the hell reason ever would he have had for being in Sydney and on the plane? Was he really there? Has he gone all time-rogue now? Or was he legit there? In Timeline 2, safe to assume Charles Widmore died on the Island in 1977 when the bomb exploded, meaning maybe no Penny (unless she was already born, but we have no indication of that, since Widmore was still with Ellie on Island at the time. idk about this yet…), which would absolutely mean no boat race and no Island button pushing, etc. His world may have been entirely different. I’m super interested in his line right now! (Also he had a book which I know nothing about yet…research! When???)
Hurley: Lucky bastard!
Kate: We don’t know if she’s in cuffs for the same reason, although the comic con vid indicates same thing, different guy. So the essentials are the same. But this time she escapes, with a hostage: Claire! Kate’s purpose is a mystery to me (unless it is entirely because her raising Aaron is what gave her the sympathy to save Little Ben and set him on his path). I’m hoping What Kate Does is the answer to her importance. Jacob touched her and her name was on the list in the ankh, and I’m supposed to trust Jacob, Room 23 told me to.
Claire: Is Claire pregnant? Why didn’t they show her on the plane? What if she’s there because she somehow had a relationship with Christian in this timeline and was going to LA to see him or to the funeral?
Charlie: He was going to flush the drugs before the crash last time. This time he tries to swallow it and chokes (or does it on purpose). In any case, he would have preferred death and seemed assured of it. Instead he is now jail-bound.
Sawyer: We didn’t really get much info, though he seemed in decent spirits and already up to helping out a fellow outlaw (Kate) and conning a doof (Hurley), so how did his quest to shoot Sawyer work out?
Boone: No Shannon. Oh thank Jacob. But still he’s drawn to Locke. Nice
Jin/Sun: Jin still obviously wanted to run away with Sun to America. I don’t remember when we found out he had thought this, but I know that I knew about it. He was going to deliver the watch then off they go. I don’t know what would have changed in Sun’s past to make her still select that ugly sweater but not learn English and plan to leave Jin. If her past is the same, then she’s lying about the English, but what caused her to get on the plane this time? Still thinking…
Sayid: I really want to see how his story plays out with going to see Nadia. Does it happen? I assume this means he was still a torturer? Did he still have to work with CIA to nail his “terrorist” friend to get to LA?
Locke: Was he lying? Did he really get to go on the walkabout? If he did, then how was he on this flight? He seemed just as depressed as ever when he exited the plane, but then a bit cheery when philosophizing with jack later. Again, adore this scene between them. The scene that should have always been.
Walt/Michael/Tailies: Do they exist on this flight?
Do we need to hold on to Ellie’s warning to Des that the universe has a way of course-correcting? Is Timeline 2 a course correction, or an oopsy that the universe will attempt to course correct through…
…Parallels. some things are happening anyway, things that would have happened had the plane crashed.
The pen: Jack/Charlie to Boone/Rose. Jack saves both Charlie and Rose anyway. Note: Does Kate take Jack’s pen at the bathroom door? The more I think about it, I think so, I just blinked or something. Cuz yeah, he needs it later, and then she has one later. So yeah.
Jack’s quest to blow up the bomb/Locke’s quest to not push the button. Both of them were “more sure of this than anything in their lives” or something like that.
The Marshal still gets head-whapped.
Jack saving Charlie’s life after he dies.
Jin does the button your shirt thing to Sun.
Nice man of science/man of faith commentary with Locke offering Jack some faith that his father is in a spiritually better place, and Jack seems happy with it. Then Jack offers Locke a little bit o’ science through a free consultation, which Locke sweetly accepts. All kinds of interesting changes here!
What sunk the Island?
Could’ve been the bomb, although surely it would have destroyed all the Dharma barracks, etc. Wait! There have been hints of “earthquakes” and a volcano was on one of the maps, so maybe the bomb set off the volcano, and that’s what sank the Island.
I love how I have just barely begun…